How rare is the name Denzel?

8,556 people in the United States have the first name Denzel, about 1 in 35,301. It ranks #2,740 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

DENZEL

#2,740

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
8,556
About
1 in 35,301
This common or more
80.7%
Who bears it

Of the 8,556 people named Denzel, 64.5% reported their origin as Black, 19.3% as Hispanic or Latino and 7.2% as White. 99.2% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Denzel peaked in 1993, when 869 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19062025
Peak year
1993
Births that year
869
In 2025*
177 ▼80%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 11,779 babies have been given the name since 1906. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Denzel by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1990s, when it ranked #882. The largest share of babies named Denzel, 41.2%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1900s#4,16711
1910s#2,945172
1920s#2,796278
1930s#3,096202
1940s#3,918154
1950s#5,207123
1960s#7,88868
1970s#15,55726
1980s#5,527248
1990s#8825,464
2000s#1,9782,121
2010s#2,3431,826
2020s#2,3871,086
Greatest Generation 1901–273.5%
Silent Generation 1928–453%
Baby boom 1946–641.8%
Generation X 1965–800.5%
Millennials 1981–9641.2%
Generation Z 1997–1229.8%
2013 and later20.2%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Denzel is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Denzel has been most common in Louisiana (2.4×), Florida (2.4×), and Maryland (1.8×), and least common in Minnesota (0.2×).

9,002 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Denzel

#2,738 Finnegan · 8,559#2,739 Tisha · 8,558#2,741 Johnna · 8,555#2,742 Melodie · 8,549

Spelled almost the same

3 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Denzel, most common first.

#7,316 Denzil · 2,096#12,997 Denzell · 940#44,846 Densel · 153

Also a last name

As a last name, Denzel ranks #51,363 of 156,621, with 438 people. See Denzel as a last name

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